Patrick's first job on the new-style dashboard moulding with its SVA-compliant and angled dials was to cut the holes for the instruments and switches. "You have to cut them two millimetres oversize to allow clearance for the leather covering." Covering the dash was the job of the specialist trimmer.

Once it came back, resplendent in its black and red leather, Patrick fitted all the instruments and switches into their correct positions. Then we saw yet another example of his attention to detail. "All the wires at the back of the dash are looped one to another in parallel," he explained. "The rev. counter and speedo light wires were linked together; then the oil pressure gauge, water temperature gauge and petrol tank gauge.

"These wires were then joined to two-pin plugs which link into corresponding sockets on the wiring loom. This means that if we ever have to take the dashboard out everything can be unplugged. We can go back in to correct any mistakes or we can fit new or additional instruments with ease."

With the wiring complete, Patrick fitted the dashboard in place. Then it was time to start bringing the car to life. First step was to fit the battery.

"Safety is of prime consideration," said Patrick."We connected up the battery to the car through a 20 amp in-line fuse so that if there was a fault in any of the new wiring it would only blow the fuse. "We connected up the battery to the car through a 20 amp in-line fuse so that if there was a fault in any of the new wiring it would only blow the fuse.

"Once you have tested all the car's circuits (except of course for the starting circuit) and are confident that there are no faults you can disconnect the in-line fuse and connect the battery positive terminal direct. This is a big moment for the builder, because once you have full power available from the battery you can try to start the engine."

Before trying to start the engine you should always stop and check that you've got oil and water in and don't have any leaks, says Patrick. "I know it sounds obvious, but its easy to get carried away in the excitement of the moment and get ahead of yourself. You'd be amazed at what I've seen people do.

"Water is very important, even if you are only running the engine for 10 or 15 seconds. Not only does water cool and protect the water pump, but if you run from cold without water you'll get hot spots around the combustion chamber and set up thermal stresses which the block is not designed to cope with." For engines where the oil filler is in the rocker/cam cover, Patrick always fills the engine with oil just prior to starting, to ensure the upper engine components receive a fresh coating of oil.

Patrick's next step, as soon as the engine starts turning, is to remove the first spark plug to check that there is a spark, and to check the oil pressure. On our Pinto, the oil pressure came up very quickly. "If there had been a problem we could have primed the pump or turned it over with the spark plugs out," Patrick said.

"We just set the ignition timing to eight degrees advance and switched it on. We ran it for about 20 minutes, on and off, checking the water circulation and for oil and exhaust leaks." There were no problems and Patrick thinks it's going to be a good one. But he does have a word of warning for the home-builder. "Don't forget to make sure you have plenty of ventilation when you're running the engine in the garage. Keep the door open."